


Cherryton Acatemy

by ForcedToDoThis404



Category: Original Work, ビースターズ | BEASTARS
Genre: A lot of original characters, Angst, Art, Based off of memes, Cherryton Academy, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Literal music links, Martial Arts, Mixed Martial Arts, Music, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Romance, Servals, Those are just characters that are more or less briefly mentioned, Violence, Weight training, caracals, music practicing, weightlifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForcedToDoThis404/pseuds/ForcedToDoThis404
Summary: With the Meteor Festival coming soon, can Caracal Gregory ask Serval Sogga to join him in setting the lanterns off in the sky?Oneshot written for Valentine's day, sort of as a meme. I mean it's based on a meme, so yeah.
Relationships: Gregory (OC)/Sogga (OC)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Meet Gregory Flerko

Gregory wondered when it was when he first fell head over heels for Sogga.

The thing is trying to recall distant things like that gets difficult. Gregory knew somewhere along the line, his brain would start fabricating things to fill in gaps. He didn't even know her name the first dozen or so times he saw her, just another animal that attended Cherryton Academy and someone he had a few classes with. Well, that's what he thought, at least. The brain always has a fickle way of recollecting memories. Gregory couldn't be completely sure of the circumstances of the first time he saw her. The only thing he was sure of was that he was drawn towards her the moment he saw her. Somehow. He felt that the attraction was useless. She was out of his league. Intelligent, social, well-built, and adorned with the most beautiful spots and luscious fur. Gregory quickly shut his mouth before he could drool all over his test paper. Sneaking a glance towards Sogga a few rows ahead, he mentally chided himself for letting his brain daydream.

Sogga. Sogga Izem. That was her name. She was hunched over her paper, pencil scribbling at lightning speed. Gregory sighed, looking at his paper. He paid attention in class but never really did the homework. He couldn't bring himself to just sit down. To just sit down, and do the work and practice assigned by the teacher. Now, his procrastination was biting him in the ass. He didn't recall shit about the problem that sat in front of him. He had vague recollections of class, but never took the time to wrap up all the knowledge and practice it. Gregory grabbed his tufted ears and rolling them gently between his fingers, a fleeting hope that he might trigger a memory of the right formula, the right way to organize the equations, something, just something! He looked at the teacher, desperate for inspiration to strike him like lightning. The hawk was reclined in her chair, observing the students. Her sharp eyes washed over the classroom, ensuring a fair environment for all students to perform the best. Gregory was able to solve all the previous problems, but just barely. Even then, he wasn't sure he was correct on all of them. But this problem had him stumped. Something was better than nothing, the saying goes, and so Gregory wrote down what he knew about the problem and what it was asking, then tried his best to arrive at an answer, knowing his methods were likely completely wrong.

He stole another glance at Sogga. She was done with the test already, now just idly doodling on a blank sheet of paper. Sometimes Gregory wished he was just half as good at academics as her, but he knew he'd never have the mental fortitude to properly study or do homework, nor the capacity to rifle through stored knowledge and use it all properly in a timely, accurate fashion. He was still staring at what he wrote down for the last problem. Level 4 problems, the teacher called it. It was the gate to decide whether or not he would get full marks for the specific standard this test was assessing. Safe to say he wasn't going to get full marks, but Gregory accepted it. That doesn't mean he can't wish for a better score, though. Getting up to hand the test to the teacher, his quick glance at Sogga's paper turned into a curiosity that demanded further attention. It was a sketch of the teacher. The general shape was already there, and finer details were being put on.

"Gregory, are you going to turn in your test or keep staring at her paper?" the teacher asked. Mortified, Gregory quickly ran over and dropped the paper, before sprinting back to his seat, scrunching up as if to hide from the quiet snickers around the room. His face burned and his ears were flushed red. He pulled his ears down to hide the flushing and reduce his ability to hear the laughter. He squirmed slightly wondering what Sogga was thinking about him. She probably found that funny. Gregory the foolish cat was caught staring at her paper. Rex, she probably thought he was a creep or a dumbass. Hell, the whole class.

Gregory just wanted the class to be over so he can go take a nap or go to the gym or something other than being in the spotlight and laughed at. The gym was the only place he could find refuge, to escape his problems. Going to the gym was the only thing he wanted to do. The only place he felt he could be himself and not tight-lipped. He could laugh around and make crude jokes and not worry about what others thought of him. He could get angry and kick something as hard as he wanted and not be in trouble. He could be in control. The body was always easier to control than the mind, or the outside world. Why did he have to pause and look at Sogga's post-test art? Why couldn't he get over his childish infatuation with her and just turn in the stupid test?

Gregory let out a quiet groan. He already embarrassed himself enough. Crying in class would not be acceptable. He could always vent later, at the gym. How much he would give to be there, throwing fierce hooks and executing savage roundhouse kicks. How much he would give to be there, roaring as he pulled weight off the ground or over his head, a symbol of him triumphing over his struggles. Maybe if he trained enough, he'd finally make peace with what he couldn't do when it would have made a difference. Great. Now he sounded like a depressed whiny baby. Gathering himself, he sat back up and patiently waited for class to end.

The time ticked by excruciatingly slowly. It was like watching an hourglass that would only let a single grain of sand by at a time. Enough to let him know time was moving, not enough to be worth looking at. Gregory couldn't stop himself from glancing at Sogga again. He could only theorize how immaculately soft her fur was, from just what he could see. She glanced at him, and Gregory averted his gaze, not wanting to seem creepy. By and large, feline females always put a lot of work into their appearance. Gregory just used bar soap every time he showered after a harsh workout, which was 6 days a week. The only part of his body he didn't soap down every day was his ear tufts. Those he washed once a week. He needed his natural oils to keep the tufts slick and hard to ruffle. Gregory ran a hand over the fur on his muscled arms. Coarse, but no tangles. He envisioned his hand running over Sogga's arm. The soft, spotted fur, the lithe muscles that probably ran underneath. That was to say nothing about the rest of her shapely form. Curves in the right places but thin overall. That was the norm for serval females, but Sogga seemed different. Maybe that was due to Gregory's other infatuations with her. She would probably feel so soft everywhere. She was about 5 inches shorter than him, the perfect size for spooning, Gregory realized. His head would fit neatly between her fuzzy ears, framing his face like a flower necklace.

The bell jolted him back to reality. His arms tensed, startled by the sudden ringing and ready to react. Flexing his arms a few more times to feel the muscle, he packed his things up and got ready to leave. Last period of the day, thank Rex. He could go straight to the gym and put his worries about his reputation and insecurities behind.

Walking behind some labrador named Jack, Gregory resisted the urge to run, coiling the powerful springy muscles in his legs for after he got out of the building. Hardly was he out the door when he broke into a jog. Hardly was he jogging when he tripped. Quickly planting his feet and stabilizing his position, he clenched his fists and raise his arms up in guard, ready to face the threat. Only, instead of an opponent, it was Sogga, looking at him with a smirk, her leg held out. No doubt it was her that tripped him. Blood flushed his ears and face again, but Gregory felt his hackles raise, eyes narrowed in indignation. Noticing that Sogga was looking down at him, he pulled his guard tighter and narrowed his stance, shifting from a karateka stance to a boxer stance, allowing him to stand near full height, towering over her by just over 5 inches. Quickly analyzing the situation, he glanced around, noting her friends standing nearby.

"Relax, kitten," Sogga smiled warmly, her predatory smirk gone. Handing him a folded piece of paper, she continued, "if you wanted to see my art, you could have just asked me and not made a fool of yourself in class."

Gregory dropped out of his stance and accepted the paper. Her soft hands briefly touched his weathered hands, sending tingling down his spine. Gregory looked at her with confusion plastered over his face, her smile still answering his questioning gaze. He unfolded the paper and glanced at the now completed sketch of the teacher.

"I-," Gregory started, struggling to find words. Sogga continued, killing the awkward silence.

"I never took you for one to enjoy art, but I guess I get to be your first. It was my pleasure. Ta-ta!" Sogga waved, before joining her friends in walking off, giggling and chatting amongst themselves.

Gregory was left holding the paper, dumbfounded. Vaguely aware of all the stares, he hightailed it out of there, making it to the gym in record time. Head hanging and hands on his knees, he took a few moments to catch his breath before opening the door and meekly greeting the gym owner. What in Rex's name was that ordeal?

"Welcome back, little floppa," the polar bear greeted him, accepting the ID card to be scanned.

"Don't call me little," Gregory said, flicking his ears in irritation. The polar bear hummed in response.

"Alright. You're set. Just don't scare the other patrons. Not everyone here is as dedicated to their body as you," the bear added, before turning his gaze back to the computer. Gregory looked at the floor and walked by. He didn't mean to scare anyone, but the female ibex goat that was trying to bench almost crushed her windpipe due to a lack of a spotter. Well, that and Gregory dropped over 200 lbs onto the ground with a loud roar after a particularly grueling set of deadlifts. He hauled the weight off her throat and apologized profusely to her and the owner of the gym.

Gregory looked between the free weights, the equipment, and the calisthenics room, debating which to do first for today's workout. Embarrassment wormed up his throat and he turned to the weights, eyes set. Whenever he was angry or bottling up something, the shoulder press was a staple in helping him cool down. Starting with an empty bar, he tore through the sets, working up to 120 lbs before finishing with 3 sets of 5 at 85 lbs. Always careful to place the bar over where the force would be applied, meaning the bar was directly in line with his forearm, he drove the weight up, over and over. Pain lanced and arced through his shoulders, sweat dribbled off his whiskers and eyelashes as he stole glances at himself in the mirror, double chin on display as looks did not matter when you were exercising. Sometimes he wished he was a canine. The longer jaw meant even if he was scrunched up, there wouldn't be a double chin. Gregory sighed and moved on to curls and chest flies. Sufficient to say that his upper body was destroyed after he was done with all the weights. However, there was a second part to his workout. To any other person, it was cardio. To him, it was life or death. His shoulders cried out in protest as he took a stance and flexed every part of him, before launching into drills.

Jab, cross, step back. Make sure to keep the fist in line with the forearm. Lock the wrists and strike with the index and middle knuckles. Hop back and forth, maintain steady footwork before stepping forward again to launch a new combo.

Jap, cross, block a hook with a cover and a lean to the side, before reversing the motion and returning the phantom opponent's hook with a hook of his own, making sure to not roll his foot or create unnecessary friction.

Switch sides while weaving a phantom cross.

Check a phantom kick, before stepping back and throwing a jab kick.

Right after letting the kicking leg drop to the ground, rotate the torso and pivot on the rear leg to properly execute two roundhouse kicks, one to the knees, one to the torso, core tensed to maintain balance.

Step back again.

Throw a hook with the lead hand, before ducking under a phantom cross and replying with an uppercut, followed by a clinch and a knee.

Over and over, some combination of strikes, blocks, dodges, kicks, followed by a jump back to reset and stay light on the feet.

Each strike was imbued with passion and hatred. It was the one thing Gregory cared about, getting stronger. He couldn't have done anything to protect his mother back when it happened, but now, he could do something, and he was never going to let it happen again. Never again. 8-year-old Gregory, at 4 foot 6 and 75 lbs couldn't have done anything. Starting at 12, Gregory trained and trained, just so he would never have to see someone suffer on his behalf. At 16, he now stood a proud 5 foot 10 and 183 lbs, with years of experience in all major striking martial arts, he could at least shield someone he cared about if some savage animal were to attack. He could be Sogga's shield. Her knight in shining armor. As if. Sogga wouldn't want a brainless athlete like him. Maybe he was short-selling himself. Gregory growled softly to himself.

Why did Sogga have to matter so much to him? She's just a classmate, a crush. She's just so smart and carefree and so pretty and soft. Rex damn it! Why did she do what she did today? Why trip him to give a piece of paper? Gregory felt ashamed over getting ready to fight her. It was just a reaction. An instinct. Granted he'd been training to always be ready to fight. So that _it_ would never happen again.

_"Mom! Mommmm! Please, please, please, please. Oh Rex, please. Please, mom," Gregory wailed._

_"Relax, kitten," a tiger purred._

_"Sit still now and don't be a baby," a fox nearby said._

_"Don't be so loud. We only want a piece of you," the tiger added._

_Both of their eyes were glazed over. Once upon a time, Gregory might have had no fear of zombies and bragged about it to his classmates, but it clearly didn't translate._

_"No! No, no, no. NOOO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Gregory shrieked, as loud as he could._

_Carnivores nearby might have done something, but this, as Gregory would learn, was the Back Alley Market. He was just another item on a menu, and all the carnivores in hearing distance thought the same._

_He tried to bare his tiny fangs at them and hiss, but the pair kept advancing on him. He tried slashing them with his minuscule claws, but it only fuelled their hunger and bloodlust further. He was seized by the neck. Gregory squirmed and shrieked as the tiger prepared to crush his head. The fox cut in, determined to get a piece of him. Knocking the tiger and Gregory over, blood seeped out of a cut caused by a broken beer bottle nearby._

_"Give meeee some, you selfish ass," the fox growled._

_Gregory kept crying even as the two carnivores kept mauling each other. Fortunately for Gregory, his cries eventually reached his mother's ears. She was looking for him, but her worry turned to distress as she started sprinting towards where she knew her kitten was. Appearing at the dead end, Fey saw the two brawling carnivores between her and her sweet child. Gregory quickly ran towards her, tears switching from fear to joy. Roughly shoving Greg behind her, she faced the two carnivores, who had stopped fighting, noticing their little snack was gone._

_"What's a femme fatale like you doing here?" the tiger slurred, grinning._

_The fox had already pounced. Gregory shrieked and scrambled backward as his mother was toppled by the tackle. Years of office work had worsened her ability to fight, and by the time Gregory was able to get a few sympathetic carnivores to help restrain the meat drunks, large chunks had already been torn out of Fey's midsection. They were just out in the park. Gregory was supposed to frolick on the slides while his mom made some business calls. He wasn't supposed to cry over the barely conscious body of his mother._

_"Floppa. My little floppa. You'll always be my little floppa. Always was, always is, always will be. Hush now," his mother crooned, before slowly drifting off. "Hushhhhh."_

His mother drifted off due to blood loss hushing him. But he thought the hush was the sound of her soul escaping her body. Gregory had never shrieked so loud before. He cried and begged and sobbed, cradling her head, tracing her ear tufts through blurry vision as he prepared to say goodbye.

Chains clicked and clacked as Gregory drove kick after kick into the side of the punching bag, envisioning it to be the stupid tiger and that high fox. He could almost feel their ribs cracking under his hardened shins, their internal organs falling apart, torn asunder by the blunt trauma. His drills had turned into full-on venting. He was getting strong to protect others. he was getting strong so that he may never cry over the body of someone he loved. He was getting strong so he wouldn't see his father crying over medical debt. He was getting strong so that he wouldn't be so useless.

He didn't lose everything that day. His mother survived. The doctors fixed her up the best they could, but she could never have another child, and Gregory's dream to be a big brother shattered. Well, not quite. His parents brought home Zhora 2 years after the incident. He instantly latched onto the 4-year-old, determined to protect his adopted sister the best he could.

Gregory didn't like showering at the gym. Gave him all the wrong vibes, so he was left with getting back to the dorms in sweaty clothes. He still took the time to air out his shirt in the changing room before leaving the gym. He didn't want anyone staring at him. Thankfully his roommates were preoccupied, so he wouldn't have to talk to them much. He set his backpack down, before heading to the showers.

As he stripped his clothes, his sensitive hearing could pick out his roommates wondering what was up with him. He could tell them he's fine, but it'd be weird since they probably wouldn't expect him to hear them. He decided to just ignore it and shower. Rinse, soap, rinse, and then some thinking time.

How long has it been since he last saw Zhora and his parents? Spring break, so 2 months? They lived so far away it wasn't worth visiting them on the weekends as some other students with families closer did. Gregory's worst nightmare would be finding out that his family was attacked while he was at school. He was here to get stronger, to make connections, and fight good fighters. Gyms were free for Cherryton students and while he couldn't afford an instructor, his friends in the Fighting Club were always eager to teach. They were always organizing practice bouts on a virtual forum the school provided the club to organize practice bouts and amateur matches with nearby schools. He promised his parents that he would pass all his classes, but they all knew why he was here. He planted a kiss on Zhora's forehead before waving his family goodbye and boarding the train. Maybe he'd get to kiss Sogga like that one day too. Maybe that was wishful thinking.

Gregory flexed in front of the mirror, admiring the way his muscles rippled across his frame. He couldn't deny that he looked good. He might have sucked at school, but he knew that to get a girl, you bait with looks and then snare with everything else. Smarts, personality, etc. Maybe he shouldn't categorize like that, but male gossip generally followed that trend, so there had to be some truth. What Sogga did today was still an anomaly to him, though. He exited the bathroom in just shorts.

"Hey, Greggy's done showering!" the panther, Tao, shouted.

"Hey, guys. Did something happen while I was gone? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Gregory asked.

"Dude, the rumors have been spreading like wildfire. How did you get Sogga of all cats to give you a gift?" the jaguar, Lunin asked. "You gotta tell us, man."

"Are you going to tell us whether or not anything happened between you two?" Tao added quickly. "I've had my eyes on this other panther but I need some advice man."

Gregory groaned. It was going to be a long night. Though, maybe it'd offer some hope. He pulled out the sketch of the hawk teacher Sogga drew after the test and had given it to him. He showed it to his roommates' reactions and questions, it seems maybe Sogga saw something in him. Well, maybe should probably be most likely. According to his roommates, she popped by about 20 minutes before he got back to ask where he went in the afternoon for "personal reasons." She also attempted to doodle his trademark ears but erased it relatively poorly. From what Gregory knows of her, she's not one to half-ass things.

His imagination ran wild that night. He had to figure out how to ask her to join him in the Meteor Festival that was happening in just 2 weeks.


	2. Meet Sogga Izem

Sogga wondered what it was that she saw in Gregory.

The thing is, she never really talked to him. She was always hanging out with her friend group and turning down guys who wanted a piece of her. As if. She did as she wanted, and none of them stood up to her standard. But that detracts from her train of thought. From what she knew, why was she intrigued with Gregory? Sure, he was tall and handsome and had nice fluffy ears that flicked in such a satisfying way, but he was always so reserved and didn't excel on tests as she did. Her parents always made it clear to her that any boy she had an interest in had to be really really good at school, like her. The only boy that immediately came to mind that fit her parent's bill was Jack. But Jack didn't fit her bill. He was nice, fluffy, and super smart. But he didn't have the fire that burned within him that she had. So perhaps the only reason she was interested in Gregory was that she knew he had a fire within him, roaring to be let out. It was an interesting hypothesis, and worth looking into. Her research into him before yielded little results, so perhaps it was time to adopt a slightly more hands-on approach. Aware that the Meteor Festival was quickly approaching, she would have to snare Gregory before some other girl got to him. Well, assuming he was chasing other girls. Sogga couldn't say for certain, but better safe than sorry. Well, enough rumination. It was time to clear her mind for the test.

Same as all other tests for this class, she had sufficiently prepared. Paid attention in class, took notes, did the homework, review said notes the days leading up to the test, sleep well the night before, and hype herself up for the test. SImple process, sometimes difficult to follow, but Sogga forced herself to adhere to the standard set before her. Her parents did not send her here to waste time but to make them proud, and Sogga was never one to disappoint, ever. 

Blowing through the questions with relative ease, she had finished with plenty of time left allotted to the exam, which happened to be the entire class period. Checking her work for mistakes, she noticed a small calculation error on the 6th problem and quickly corrected it, changing her final answer by a small amount. Satisfied, she handed in the test and asked for some scratch paper to draw on, which the teacher handily provided. Thanking the teacher, Sogga returned to her seat, relishing in the sounds of other students still puzzling the questions. It did feel nice to be the first, though Sogga was aware that in the grand scheme of things, she was far from the smartest animal out there. She puzzled over what to draw, tapping the eraser on her pencil against her desk thoughtfully. Perhaps it would do to draw something that represented her hatred for the time-warping devices that schools developed to ensure maximum student suffering. She brainstormed ideas, but she decided that perhaps she was overthinking it. She settled on something simple, drawing a portrait of the teacher.

Lightly sketching the right proportions based on short glances at the teacher, Sogga wanted to capture the teacher's sharpness and devotion, opting to focus on detailing the eyes and beak in her sketch. She wanted the beak and gaze to be sharp. Fingers getting a bit sore from meticulously drawing fine details on said beak and eyes prompted her to focus on larger, less strenuous lines and curves of the feathers.

"Gregory, are you going to turn in your test or keep staring at her paper?" the teacher asked. Sogga blinked, looking around. Gregory was looking at her paper? Laughter rang around the classroom, and she saw Gregory dump his test on the teacher's desk before jogging back to his desk. Her gaze trailed Gregory back. Gregory was looking at her drawing, Sogga realized. Cogs in her head quickly turned, spitting out possible motives, as well as trying to think through his response to run and put his head down on his desk with ears folded. Sogga felt anger rising at the laughter still bouncing around the class. Obviously, Gregory was a bit socially oblivious, that much was blatantly obvious but Sogga appreciated his sentiment, especially since it now hinted to her that Gregory was in fact interested in her, so she obviously disliked the fact that the other students were making Gregory feel bad. It almost hurt her to see him curled up on his desk. 

She sighed, turning back to her paper, continuing to add details. It wasn't long before she finished her sketch of the teacher. Satisfied with the outcome, she looked at the clock. There was enough time for a second sketch. She glanced at Gregory, studying him for a second. He caught her gaze, then quickly looked to the side, ears flicking. Sogga couldn't get over how cute those tufted ear flicks were and how shy Gregory seemed. She decided to sketch those tufted ears that captured her imagination and dominated her thoughts of Gregory.

Shape, texture, proportion, shading. All went down in a matter of minutes, and Sogga erased it all. She wanted to give the paper to Gregory, for his troubles in class but decided to leave remnants of her sketch of his famous tufted ears, mark her interest, in a way. Besides, she wanted to see his reaction. School gets repetitive, school drama didn't. Folding up the paper, she waited for the bell to ring, before sprinting out and meeting up with her friends. They had planned to go to a nearby playground to play tag and chat, but Sogga decided to do something that would probably bite her in the ass. Gregory came out the door and started running, and she stuck her foot out, causing him to tip over. Her friends gasped. Sogga internally hoped it wouldn't destroy her chances with him, but she couldn't admit that it wasn't fun. What surprised her, however, was Gregory catching himself almost instantly. He set his feet down and turned to face her in a half squat almost, fists clenched and arms tense. He looked like a fighter right out of a movie. Sogga looked him in the eyes, and the fire that burned in his brown eyes shook her to the core. She felt like she was on the precipice of something she could not survive. But she hid the fear. She probably shouldn't have tripped him, it was a bad mistake. But she had to move forward. Squashing her fear, she maintained her gaze. She could see the blood rushing to Gregory's face and ears again. She smirked. It seems she was right yet again. Gregory narrowed his stance and brought his guard together. Sogga went from looking down on him with a smirk to having to crane her neck upwards to meet his dark gaze. He held their stare briefly before his eyes darted off to scan the surroundings. 

"Hey kitten," she purred. His eyebrows furrowed and his ears pointed towards her. She handed him the folded piece of paper, genuinely hoping it would brighten his day. She smiled when he dropped out of his stance and took the paper gingerly. "If you wanted to see my art, you could have just asked me and not made a fool of yourself in class."

Gregory stared at the paper, then tried to talk, but Sogga wanted to make things awkward for him because that's just how she is. "I never took you for one to enjoy art, but I guess I get to be your first. It was my pleasure. Ta-ta!"

She half hoped he wouldn't get the innuendo, but it is what it is. She skipped off to go to her friends, leaving Gregory to wonder what just happened. 

"Goodness, Sogga. What was that all about?"

"You should have seen his face!"

"He looks so scary when he's serious. Why'd you do that?"

"You almost made him flop on his face."

"I did it because I wanted to see how he would react," Sogga replied to Sheila, smirking.

"My goodness, Sogga. I don't think all of us combined could get the same brashness you have."

"I don't think you would have liked it if he punched you for tripping him," Sheila replied.

"I completely agree," Sogga answered, and her friends laughed. Sogga couldn't ever get tired of her friends' contagious curiosity and their quick-witted remarks and overall bubbliness. They started walking towards the dorms to set a few things down before spending the afternoon at the park. That was how most school days went. Wake up, prep, breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, go mess around at a park or hang out at a library, eat dinner (sometimes at a restaurant), then it was homework until it was either done or she couldn't stay up anymore. 

"Say, do you like Gregory or something?" Sheila asked. "Not to get too nosy or anything."

"Yeah. I think that's the first time you pulled something like that, right?"

Sogga snorted. "Are you chasing after Gregory too, Sheila?"

"No, no. Rex's sake, no," Sheila replied.

"Good. Because I'm asking him out," Sogga replied confidently. Her friends' jaws all collectively dropped, and Sogga drank in the attention. 

"He flops for no hoe," a new voice came from behind them, a male voice.

Sogga turned around and glanced around, before finally looking down. "Who might you be?"

"Voss," he replied.

"Well Voss, thanks for calling me a hoe. Now get out of here before I turn you into a soccer ball," Sogga snarled. 

"That won't be necessary. Perhaps I should explain a bit further," Voss continued. Sogga narrowed her eyes, and all her friends crowded around.

"Gregory won't let you touch his ears unless he cares about you," Voss added. Sogga raised an eyebrow.

"Does he tell you or something?" Sheila asked. "I don't think I've seen you hang around with anyone other than Collot or Legoshi."

"I have my sources," Voss answered cryptically, before walking off.

"Good grief, that was bizarre," Sogga sighed. "Should have flattened his ass. Now I have something extra to worry about."

"Hey, don't get tuckered out on us. I still need to get even with you for targetting me and only me all of yesterday," her lynx friend, Annika added, before grabbing Sogga by the shoulders and guiding her towards the playground they were playing tag at the other day. 

"Well Sheila's too fast for me and none of you guys are fast enough to make tag challenging for me," Sogga replied. 

"Why don't we all make it super hard for Sheila?" one of the twin pallas' cats added. 

"Ooh, ooh. We all target Sheila and block her paths. That oughta make things fun," the second pallas' cat added.

"What?? Come on! Don't punish me for being good," Sheila groaned.

"It's no fun when no one bothers to chase you because you're too fast. You're at drama club half the time anyway, so for the sake of having some fun time, please?" Fuwa the ocelot begged Sheila, putting on her best cutesy eyes.

"The things I do for you guys," Sheila sighed, before petting Fuwa on the head.

"Come on, ladies. We're burning time here. Dinner's in an hour and I wanna get even with Soggy over here," Annika said.

"Don't call me Soggy."

"Too bad. You're not my mom," Annika stuck her tongue out at Sogga.

"Yeah, because I'm not gay," Sogga shot back with a grin. Annika rolled her eyes.

"Your mom jokes are a middle school phenomenon. Stop being immature," Annika replied.

"Well, you're not denying it," Anya, the older of the pallas' twins added.

"I swear you're all middle schoolers," Sigrun, the younger of the pallas' twins exclaimed. "I'm the youngest one here to top it off."

Sheila smirked, before breaking into a sprint. "Tag, you're it, Anya."

Sheila was already at the top of the play structure before Anya could even say anything. "Oh, it's on!"

Sogga returned to the dorms for a quick shower before heading to the cafeteria for dinner. She always did love chasing her friends. It made her feel alive and was a well-deserved break from sitting and doing homework, ironically enough. Not that she didn't like homework or anything, but it got boring sometimes. Her fingers were a bit sore from grabbing onto poles to quickly change directions. Unlike Sheila, she didn't have enough tail mass to change direction quickly enough. Her specialty as a serval was jumping, not turning on a dime like a cheetah. She massaged her fingers in the showers. She needed her fingers in top condition to play her best at the Meteor Festival. As part of the student ensemble, she owed it to her fellow musicians to practice. Music is a team sport. What sports does Gregory partake in? Sogga had so many questions about Gregory. As things stood, she knew very little about his personality and who he is in general. But boys are pretty easy to understand, if not a bit frustrating at times. She washed and rinsed her fur thoroughly, making sure it was completely clean. She turned the water off and stepped out. She admired herself in the mirror while drying herself, running some fingers through her slightly wet fur. She was proud of her figure, cultivated largely through proper dieting and playing tag. Sounds stupid, but it works for her. Okay, evening plan. Practice for the Meteor Festival performance, do homework, and write creatively/hang out with roommates if time allows. Sheila was the only feline among her friends that wasn't her roommate. She was in the large feline section, with panthers, cheetahs, jaguars, etc. 

She opened the violin case and set up the instrument methodically. Set flat, open the handle, unbutton the flap, and open the zipper. Take out shoulder rest, pry open the grips, set onto the violin, ensuring a tight hold. Set to the side, tighten the bow, rosin briefly, then tune the instrument. Sogga's ready to go. She jumped straight into the songs to be played at the festival. Warm-ups were for losers. She'd play, and whenever she stumbled, she'd go over the section at half the speed, before bringing the section back up to its original speed. This year's feature piece was the most challenging Sogga had ever encountered. There were tons of flourishes, and since she was the one the director chose for the solo, she had to make sure every single note was perfectly pitched and played properly. The violin bow was capable of producing impressive sounds, but only if pressed down properly and in the right position on the string. The amount of octave jumps and chords made it exceedingly difficult.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GDM41xtfPw  
The pieces with less emphasis on solos were easier in comparison, though not by much.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Ag0dBGbvc  
Bizarrely enough, some of the pieces required a full orchestra, others would only require a few instruments. However, with a performance length of roughly 40 minutes, Sogga realized having everyone play for 40 minutes wouldn't be very fun.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVgUIXwmfBQ  
There were even several additional instruments, such as a rock guitar. Cherryton Academy never spared any expenses when it came to the Meteor Festival.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Wm07dIWCc  
Sogga had wanted to perform the piano solo too, but it would have placed too much strain on her, and in a way, it was a blessing that there was an even better animal to play the piano.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70UK4oXuYNo  
Sogga couldn't deny that the music did inspire a lot of feelings. She imagined Gregory in the audience cheering as the ensemble played all this music. She started getting giddy, even though the Meteor Festival was 2 weeks away.   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0jto4T4yrA  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8seo1ocAQ9k&  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzTxDaeUI2Y  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJfdTPTFDbc  
That last one was also one of the more difficult ones for Sogga. The sheer speed of the piece meant playing was difficult. Granted, this wasn't in performance order. The tips of her fingers were red and sore. Sogga let a huge sigh out as the tension of holding her instrument melted. No homework for the hawk's class and it was already late May, so homework was winding down. Sogga thanked her lucky stars for that. 

"Nice playing, Izem," Sigrun remarked from her bunk where she was timing herself reassembling a pen.

"Thanks," Sogga replied. "What do you think of this year's ensemble performance? Excited to listen to the whole thing put together based on what I was practicing?"

"Hell yeah I am," Sigrun replied. I basically only go to the Meteor Festival for food and music anyways. Don't really believe in any of the dinosaur stuff. Gotta live for me."

"Gotcha," Sogga answered, still wondering what Gregory was doing in response to her stunt today. She had a bad habit of doing things spontaneously that she ends up regretting later. Most of it stems from sheer stubbornness, pride, being way too random with what she does or says, and easy to anger. Extremely easy to anger. She punched a hole in her bedroom wall once because she banged her knee on a table leg on accident. She also had a bad habit of running her lips and offending people, then refusing to acknowledge she was wrong or back down for the sake of public peace. She liked being right. Who doesn't? She also called one of her teacher's grading policy "retarded" back in middle school. When the teacher asked her to repeat it, she repeated it but added more scathing comments about the teacher's qualifications to be a teacher. The apology she was forced to read to the class was mortifying. The number of times she's done something with the thought process of "why not" is embarrassing. From throwing a paper airplane in middle school that resulted in 2 hours of detention to tripping Gregory earlier today, Sogga was really hoping that she didn't do anything irreparable. As much as she hated to admit it, Gregory did legitimately scare her when he saw her as a threat, but the moment he softened, Sogga knew she had to snare him. 

Homework was done in record time, and Sogga went off to the male feline dorms. She asked the dorm manager where Caracal Gregory Flerko lived and was provided a room number. Now standing outside of it, there were two ways this would go. Firstly, Gregory would be inside, and she can ask him out right then and there. Secondly, Gregory wouldn't be inside, in which case she would ask his roommates where she can find him. Preparing herself to not stutter or falter, she knocked.

A black panther opened the door, rather surprised to see her.

"A girl?" he asked, bewildered.

"Astute observation, my fellow feline," Sogga answered. "I was wondering if Gregory is inside."

"He's not. You need him for something?" he asked.

"Sort of. Since he's not here, I was wondering if you know where I could find him after school," Sogga replied.

"Yeah. You can find him in the gym most of the time after school. He's there till like 7:30 or 8," he answered, shuffling on his feet. "Why are you asking?"

"It's a personal thing. Alright, thanks!" Sogga said, before hopping off. She was still concerned she might have done something wrong earlier, but with the amount that Gregory was blushing when taking the letter, he probably got over it. The night was still young but tomorrow would be a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> I ran out of time to write the third and final chapter of this one-shot, but I know I have a good base to work off of. Chances are I'll publish that final chapter next year's Valentine's day. With that aside, I'm once again asking you for feedback. I have absolutely no idea how to write female dialogue, so please, let me know if I wrote something wrong. On top of that, let me know about grammatical errors and whatnot. With that aside, I hope you enjoyed what I've written so far!


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